This invention relates primarily to casino games, and more particularly to casino games such as video poker, keno and slot machines. The present invention provides the player with multipliers on the next round of play depending on the outcome of the previous round of play.
Conventional video draw poker is a single player game in which the player does not play against a dealer or other players, but rather merely tries to achieve the highest possible ranking poker hand.
After an initial deal of five cards, the player is allowed to discard and replace unwanted cards with replacement cards. Electronic video poker games use poker hand rankings to determine winning combinations and a payout schedule is used to determine the amount awarded to the player for achieving a winning combination.
The conventional winning poker hand rankings that are used in video poker in order from highest to lowest are: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair and a Pair of Jacks or better. Any hand having less than a Pair of Jacks or better is a losing hand. These winning poker hand rankings are used in the Jacks or Better draw poker format as well as many of the other draw poker formats.
Video poker as a draw poker game using the Jacks or Better draw poker format has been played in gaming casinos for many years. Variations of video draw poker have evolved and include video draw poker using Jokers as wild cards and video draw poker using Deuces (or even Sevens) as wild cards. Another known variation of video draw poker is the Tens or Better format in which the lowest winning hand combination is a Pair of Tens. Most of the more recent modifications to video involve the use of different draw poker formats such as Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double-Double Bonus Poker and even Triple Bonus Poker. Different draw poker formats involve changes to the pay table and often involve using different poker hand rankings as winning hand combinations.
Multiple hand video poker games allow the player to play more than one hand of video poker at a time. U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,873 to Moody, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a multiple hand poker game in which the player plays two or more hands of video poker at a time. An initial starting hand is dealt, the player discards unwanted cards and replacement cards are dealt for the discarded cards. The poker hand ranking of the final cards is determined and the player receives a payout for any winning card combination achieved. Each hand of the multiple hand poker game is treated as a separate pay line for payout purposes. However, each pay line uses the same pay table for the purpose of determining the amount received by the player for winning hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,638,163 (Moody) discloses a stud poker game with consecutive rounds of play. In either a single hand format or a multiple hand format, the play makes a wager to start the game. As long as the player continues to achieve winning outcomes, the play continues to receive additional rounds of stud poker without having to make any additional wagers. No pay table multipliers are disclosed in this method of play.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,521 (Sanduski) discloses randomly applying a multiplier to a pay line based on the value of a multiplier card. Sanduski discloses using only a single multiplier value for a single hand of video poker. For example, when a player achieves a Four-of-a-Kind, the payout for this winning combination is multiplied by the value of the kicker card in the poker hand. There is no carryover effect of any multiplier in the Sanduski game to the next round of play of the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,247,092 (Jarvis et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses the use of one or more multiplier cards added to a conventional deck of playing cards. Whenever a multiplier card appears during the play of a video poker game, the payout for any winning combination that is achieved is multiplied by the value of the multiplier card. This Jarvis feature has been commercialized in a game known as SUPER TIME PAY which is marketed by IGT of Reno, Nev. There is no carryover effect of any multiplier in the Jarvis game to the next round of play of the game.
The Jarvis multiplier card feature has been applied to multiple hand video poker. For example, in TRIPLE PLAY SUPER TIMES PAY all pay lines are eligible for the same multiplier value should a multiplier card appear in the initial deal of the starting hand. There is no carryover effect of any multiplier in the TRIPLE PLAY SUPER TIMES PAY game to the next round of play of the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,927 (Slomiany et al.) discloses a multiple hand poker game using multipliers. The player wagers to play four hands of video poker. The first hand is played at a 1× pay table. If the player has a winning outcome on the first hand, the player plays the second hand at a 2× multiplier. If the player has a winning outcome on the second hand, the player plays the third hand at a 4× multiplier. If the player has a winning outcome on the third hand, the player plays the fourth hand at an 8× multiplier. The multipliers from hand to hand always remain in the same progression of 1×, 2×, 4× and 8×.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,013 (Taylor) discloses a poker game which uses varying pay tables. As the player achieves a winning outcome on each consecutive round of play, the pay table changes for the next round of play. When the player achieves a losing outcome on a round of play, the pay table resets to the base pay table for the next round of play.
Slot machines also have one or more pay lines and for each pay line that has been activated by making a wager thereon, a player receives a payout whenever a winning symbol combination that appears on an active pay line.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,378 to Moody, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a multiple reel slot machine with multiple pay lines. The player makes a wager for each pay line that the player wishes to have activated for a particular round of play. The method of the present invention may be practiced using the slot machine disclosed in this '378 patent as well as other slot machines which have multiple pay lines.
The present invention provides a method for applying multipliers on the next round of play of a casino game based on the outcome of the previous round of play thereby adding a new and exciting wagering and winning feature for the player. The method of the present invention can be applied to draw poker games and to slot machines. Stud poker games and keno games may also be modified to use the method of the present invention.